Bitcoin Breaks $10,000 Price for First Time Since March 2018

Bitcoin prices have broken the $10,000 mark, passing the milestone for the first time since March 2018, and continuing the bullish trend it has followed for 5 months. Prices have more than trebled since the beginning of February. Many analysts are pointing to the next major resistance point being $11,500, so the rise could be set to continue for some time yet. However, Bitcoin’s recovery has been overshadowed, at least in the mainstream media, by news of Facebook’s Libra coin launch.

Bitcoin prices are well known for being highly volatile. In December 2017, the digital gold reached its peak price just shy of $20,000. 12 months later, in December 2018, it had undergone a huge reversal in fortune and bottomed out at around $3,200, having lost 82% of its value in one year. While some saw this as a sign of the beginning of the end of Bitcoin, the currency has turned bullish once again.

At the beginning of February, Bitcoin prices were around $3,200, having endured a very difficult 12 months. By March, prices had risen 10% and Bitcoin has posted positive months ever since. Having traded at $8,500 at the beginning of June, the crypto’s current price is up nearly 20% at the time of writing.

Also this month, Facebook announced its cryptocurrency, dubbed Libra. Libra’s stated aim is to facilitate banking for the unbanked citizens of the world. Although it is being dubbed the Facebook coin, Libra is actually being backed by and run by a group of companies that includes Mastercard, PayPal, Coinbase, eBay, Uber, and Lyft. The new cryptocurrency will be a stable coin of sorts; its valued tied to a basket of assets that includes currencies like the Dollar and the Pound.

Many argue that Libra is not a true cryptocurrency. It is built on a native blockchain, but it does not use blocks or chains. It is also not decentralized. While Libra might not be a true cryptocurrency, it could introduce more people to the cryptocurrency world.

It won’t be plain sailing for Libra, however, as has already been witnessed. The day after the coin was formally announced, US lawmakers have asked for a hearing on the currency and some have suggested that development be halted while they consider the coin further.

Bitcoin (BTC) prices have increased nearly 6% in the past 24 hours and the cryptocurrency is now trading at $10,134.27. The second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH) has seen even greater gains, up 7.62% to $294.99 and Ripple (XRP) posted 2.62% gains and a price of $0.443. Litecoin, still the 4th largest crypto by market capitalization, is now trading at $138.55, having increased 1.83%. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) saw impressive 5.09% gains and is now trading at $439.08.

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